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£30.00The St Louis Blues - Sandy Coffin, W C Handy
Two-Step MarchCommissioned by John Wallace, this arrangement of The St Louis Blues has been crafted by Sandy Coffin through close listening of the available recordings of the Harlem Hellfighters Band. Sandy had been heavily involved with the Historic Brass Society symposium 2017 held in New York and assisted John with his research on this fascinating band and the style of music it generated.Eye-witness accounts refer to the 369th band 'dancing' rather than 'marching'. Above all, in modern performance, finding a 'dancing beat' is crucial to a successful performance of this Ragtime march in order to do justice to the great pioneering work of James Reese Europe.Note the flutter-tonguing and use of muting, the counter-melody in soprano cornet, and the wilder and yet wilder nature of each repetition of the Chorus.Look and Listen:Background to the Harlem HellfightersThe US Army 369th Regiment, made up largely of African-Americans from New York, became known as the Harlem Hellfighters because of the heroic reputation which accrued to them during the actions they engaged in during the First World War in Europe.James Reese Europe was one of the most active African-American composer/musical directors in the pre-war American music scene. The legendary Harlem Hellfighters Band, which he assembled in 1917 from African-American and Puerto Rican musicians, came at an important transitional point in musical history. A new form of music called jazz was emerging from Ragtime and the performing style of Europe's band was immersed in the flow of this new direction.Europe's Harlem Hellfighters influenced and inspired everyone who heard them, including the welcoming crowd when they disembarked in France, bowled over by their swinging rendition of La Marseillaise. Reese Europe became a war hero, commanding a machine-gun unit as well as the band.On return from War in 1919 the band led a ticker-tape parade along Fifth Avenue in New York and soon made about 30 shellac recordings. These recordings display some of the fingerprints of their performing style: ragging, improvising, muting, wailing, smearing (their word for glissando) - and from the evidence of their recordings they took the printed page as a blueprint for individuality.In May 1919 during the Hellfighters' triumphant coast-to-coast tour after their return, James Reese Europe was tragically murdered, bringing to premature close, at the age of 39, the work of a great musical innovator.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
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£95.00
Torsion (Score & Parts) - Simon Dobson
Torsion was commissioned by the Leyland Band and first performed on 23 January 2010 at the Royal Northern College of Music Festival of Brass, Manchester, by Leyland Band conducted by Jason Katsikaris. This colourful and dynamic work is the most personal and ambitious that Simon Dobson composed during his residency with the Lancashire brass band. The dictionary defines torsion as the state of being twisted and the composer interprets this as the imagined dis-torsions and con-torsions of Time, Light and Sound in three contrasting movements. Simon Dobson fuses the traditional brass band sound with drive and energy of pop and funk jazz with optional digitally distorted 'echoes' providing added aural confusion at the points of climax. Although composed as a substantial concert work, Torsion would also make a challenging test-piece for contesting brass bands in the elite divisions.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£34.95Silent Night - Christopher Bond
Silent Night and Away in a Manger; two of the most beautiful traditional Christmas carols are combined in this striking new slow jazz arrangement, to provide a subtle yet effective addition to Christmas programming. Beginning and closing with Silent Night, the arrangement features the baritone as soloist, with smaller contributions from other soloists. The central section of the work beautifully transitions into Away in a Manger, before returning to Silent Night to close. The arrangement was premiered by Tongwynlais Temperance Band in December 2015, and recorded by Cory Band in November 2016.
Estimated dispatch 10-14 working days
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£45.00
Rhapsody in Blue (Score & Parts) - George Gershwin
Steve Sykes has taken the main themes from George Gershwin's classic 1924 Rhapsody in Blue for piano and concert jazz orchestra to form a tuneful selection for brass band. Brass Band Grade 4: Advanced Youth and 3rd Section Duration: 8 minutes
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£50.00
Overture for Brass (Score & Parts) - Carlos Franzetti
From symphonies to big band jazz, and from chamber works to Latin American music and film scores, the music of Argentian-born composer and arranger Carlos Franzetti (b.1948) has won many prestigious awards. This exciting six minute overture, Overture for Brass, was arranged by Mark Freeh and has been recorded by the GUS Band, conducted by Bramwell Tovey.Brass Band Grade 4: Advanced Youth and 3rd SectionDuration: 6 minutes
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£10.99
Overture for Brass (Score) - arr. Mark Freeh
From symphonies to big band jazz, and from chamber works to Latin American music and film scores, the music of Argentian-born composer and arranger Carlos Franzetti (b.1948) has won many prestigious awards. This exciting six minute overture, Overture for Brass, was arranged by Mark Freeh and has been recorded by the GUS Band, conducted by Bramwell Tovey.Brass Band Grade 4: Advanced Youth and 3rd SectionDuration: 6 minutes.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£54.95Wall of Sound - Paul Lovatt-Cooper
A real 'feel-good' piece that mixes the genres of dance, jazz, rock and funk that is an ideal showcase for band and soloists. Commissioned by Dr Nicholas Childs and Philip Biggs for the National Children's Band of Great Britain 2010. Circa 7'20".
Estimated dispatch 10-14 days
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£70.00
Fire in the Sky - Peter Meechan
Fire in the Sky takes its inspiration from the stunning town of Montreux in Switzerland. I was commissioned to write the work 5 days before I visited this Montreux and was at work forming ideas for the piece as I arrived on the shore of Lake Geneva and its amazing views of the Alps.Whilst the scenery is without doubt some of the most incredible views I have ever witnessed, it was the history of the town that set Fire in the Sky in motion. Whilst there, it occurred to me that many of my musical heroes had lived or performed there, and three of them in particular had a strong connection with the town. Miles Davis, Igor Stravinsky and Freddie Mercury graced Montreux - the large convention centre, where the famous summer jazz festival is held, named its two halls after Davis and Stravinsky, and there is a quite breathtaking statue of Mercury in the town too.Each musician also commemorates an anniversary in 2011, the year of the premiere of Fire in the Sky; it is 40 years since the death of Stravinsky and both Miles Davis and Freddie Mercury died in 1991, making it 20 years since their deaths. So it seemed fitting to write a piece that in some way acknowledges them, and is a kind of personal "thanks" for all they have given, and continue to give, me.The title comes from the famous Deep Purple song, Smoke on the Water - whose second line is "Fire in the Sky" and is a reference to the night the town's casino was set alight by a Frank Zappa fan. The piece tries to recreate the atmosphere of that night, paint a picture of fire in the sky (and smoke on the water) and also uses small "nuggets" of the music of my three greatest musical heroes, Miles Davis, Freddie Mercury and Igor Stravinsky.Fire in the Sky was commissioned by the Tomra Brass Band, Norway, and is dedicated to Stijn Berbe and Nick Ost - both of whom are connected with the band (teaching and conducting), and both have been close friends - personally and musicaly - for many years. I am indebted to them for the opportunity to write this piece.
Estimated dispatch 12-14 working days
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£30.00Blue Bombazine - Terry Johns
The word Bombazine is derived from the obsolete French word Bombasin. Largely made in the Norwich area, Bombazine is a twilled fabric made of silk used mainly in dress making and popular in England in the reign of Elizabeth I. The image and feel of warm, smooth, opulent silk is aptly suited to a solo feature for tuba. Wing Commander Duncan Stubbs and the RAF Music Service commissioned Blue Bombazine for solo tuba and brass in 2014, for Senior Aircraftman Jonathan Gawn and the RAF Central Band. It was first performed at The Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, on the 11th April 2015 at the British Festival of Wind Bands. The music is written in the jazz idiom with a testing solo part. It is available with brass band accompaniment or brass dectet. There is also a "recital" version available for tuba and piano.
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£30.00Meanwhile - Jock McKenzie
Just imagine being free of stress, anxiety, time pressures, workload & the general 'busy-ness' of everyday life... For the lucky few that may find themselves in this position, the clock keeps ticking for the rest of us. "Meanwhile" seeks to represent the relentless challenges of the 'everyday'. It is a full-on, driving swing number, very much in the style of a big band chart. In my orchestration of this piece I have deliberately treated the brass dectet somewhat similarly to that of a big band / jazz orchestra. The two 'rows' of four trumpets and four trombones are employed in the typical way, with the horn representing a unison / octave saxophone section. The tuba busily walks around the harmonic foundation of the piece. This piece was conceived out of the chaos of an overcrowded school music department. In one room I was rehearsing a brass ensemble whilst the other side of a (very) thin wall was a saxophone group attempting to make themselves heard over our dulcet tones. The brass ensemble would stop regularly to receive pearls of wisdom from yours truly, MEANWHILE the saxes could be heard in these gaps, plodding through their material. This seemed to go on interminably. In this piece the independent horn line represents the work weary saxes; occasionally breaking through the textures of the other brass lines. J.M.
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